Dida aims to keep it clean

By Tim Dykes

AC Milan goalkeeper Dida can carve himself another piece of UEFA Champions League history if he keeps a clean sheet in tonight's quarter-final second leg against FC Internazionale Milano.

Inter opposition
The Brazilian international, whose penalty shoot-out heroics helped the Rossoneri lift the European Champion Clubs' Cup for a sixth time two seasons ago, can equal the record for the competition's longest unbeaten sequence if he keeps the Nerazzurri at bay at the Giuseppe Meazza.

Remarkable Rossi
Dida has gone five Champions League games without conceding a goal, equalling a club milestone set by Sebastiano Rossi in the 1994/95 campaign. But a sixth straight clean sheet would put him level with former AFC Ajax goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and Panathinaikos FC's Polish custodian Józef Wandzik, who both achieved the feat in 1995/96.

Five-match streak
FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic FC, Manchester United FC (twice) and Inter have all failed to score against the 31-year-old this term. But although he has been undefeated for 451 minutes, Dida has some way to go before eclipsing the record for the longest period without shipping a goal, Van der Sar having held out for 658 minutes during Ajax's victorious run of 1995/96.

Warzycha torment
The Dutchman survived the last 31 minutes of Ajax's 5-1 Group D win against Ferencvárosi TC and went on to keep clean sheets against Grasshopper-Club (twice), Real Madrid CF, Ferencváros and BV Borussia Dortmund (twice) as the Amsterdam side cruised into the semi-finals. A seventh successive shutout looked likely until Panathinaikos, with Wandzik keeping his record-equalling sixth straight clean sheet at the other end, scored the tie's only goal through Krzysztof Warzycha on 87 minutes.

Seventh heaven?
If Dida is successful tonight, he will have the opportunity of making it seven matches without conceding in the first leg of Milan's semi-final, which would be played at home to either PSV Eindhoven or Olympique Lyonnais, neither of whom have scored an away goal against the Rossoneri.

Last-gasp goals
Meanwhile, one goal is all Chelsea FC need to equal the Champions League record for scoring in successive away games when they visit FC Bayern München in this evening's other fixture. Manchester United registered in 12 consecutive away trips between March 2001 and October 2002, including solitary added-time strikes against Panathinaikos and FC Nantes Atlantique.

100th match
However, Chelsea, one of only two teams in the tournament averaging more than two goals per game, can match that by finding the target at the Olympiastadion in their 12th outing since failing to score against Olympique de Marseille at the Vélodrome in March 2000. The tie in Munich will be Bayern's 100th Champions League encounter - only Madrid (111) and United (109) have played more.